Study of factors affecting sarcopenia in regular hemodialysis patients

Background Sarcopenia is prevalent among hemodialysis patients and is linked with decreased physical function, diminished quality of life, and a total increase of cardiovascular risk. Patients and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at Menoufia University Hospitals, including 86 end-stage renal disease patients, who were classified into three groups according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 criteria based on sarcopenia severity. Medical history, anthropometric measurements, nutritional condition, physical function tests, and laboratory investigations were included to analyze differences between groups, considering influential factors. Results Sarcopenia’s bioimpedance parameters including appendicular skeletal muscle index (16.21 ± 2.40), appendicular skeletal muscle index (5.02 ± 1.19), phase angle (°) (5.7 ± 0.5) hand strength (20.81 ± 5.15), were significantly lower than the nonsarcopenic group with low physical activity assessed by International Physical Activity. The multivariate analysis and the receiving operation characters curve revealed that malnutrition was the most predicted risk factor for sarcopenia in regular hemodialysis patients (odds ratio=3.54; confidence interval: 1.911–5.814, P =0.000) with cut off value less than 3.5 with high sensitivity and specificity followed by diabetes mellitus (odds ratio=1.619; confidence interval: 0.312–0.852, P =0.01) and other predictors. Conclusion Malnutrition, physical inactivity, and associated comorbidity may be significant modifiable factors in the sarcopenia development and progression in hemodialysis cases. These results emphasize the value of early screening and individualized intervention strategies for managing sarcopenia in affected patients.